InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ My Despised Soul Mate ❯ Candle in the wind ( Chapter 2 )

My Despised Soul Mate

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story. Except maybe the plot… I don't get any money for writing this. Please don't sue! If you like my original character you're free to borrow them if you tell me beforehand.

Pairing: Inuyasha and Kagome.

A/N: sooo sorry for the delay! See I am writing another story for HP and I was trying to write a chapter there because I feel really guilty starting a new project without ending the last one, but I've got this awful writer's block! And I decided that since I can't seem to write a nice chapter there, I'll just give you what you want here without feeling guilty denying you another chapter! Hum… yeah… that. **Blushes madly** Sorry!

By the way, thank you all so much for your reviews! I was really glad for the responses I got! Really! ^_^ You are wonderful!

"This is speech"

'This is thought'

* * * This is a break

~*~*~ This is a jump in the time sequence ~*~*~

"…The existence of a soul mate is something that has nothing to do with gender. Most of us think that it has something to do with love and sexual attraction of two beings. Which is, of course, a lie…"

-Jorge Raul Olguín.

Chapter 2: Like a candle in the wind.

"…And then, she banged her head against the glass shouting 'electric guitar!' and I swear I never laughed so much in my entire life!" Kagome chuckled. She looked at him. "If you want you can come to my college sometime and meet everybody. I take it you must feel lonely, away from everyone you know."

"Feh."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Feh means feh!"

They were walking through a particularly crowded street. It was just a day after they had met each other and they were already quarreling like two childhood friends. Inuyasha had to smile internally. He had discovered her eyes glowed more brightly when she was angry. Suddenly, he felt the weight of her purse crashing on his head. The girl had hit him!

"Oi, Wench! What was that for?" he said rubbing his ears. The girl had guts. He had to give her that, no normal human girl would ever hit a hanyou like that.

"For being an arrogant jerk!" she replied angrily.

Yes, she definitively looked beautiful when she was angry. It was a bit scary when she was mad at him, however. Not that her anger would stop him or anything.

"Where are we going, anyway?" he inquired, looking around.

"You'll see." She said, a glint of mischief in her tone.

~*~*~ Jump in the time sequence ~*~*~

Candles and more candles.

The room, because it had to be a room, was of an indescribable size. She tried to look around and see the walls, but there were none. She could only look at the wooden ceiling and the black marble floor. An infinite number of wooden tables of all shapes and sizes were placed all around… but what really caught her attention were the candles. The sea of candles surrounded her. They were everywhere: on the tables, on the floor, and hanging from a lonely lamp that was placed just above her. The only lamp she could see. The only lamp that could show her there was a ceiling. Otherwise she would have thought it an endless sea of candles over a marble floor. The candles seemed to be of an infinite number. So many candles like she had never seen together. They were all white, but they came in different sizes, and thickness. A glow seemed to engulf the whole room… and her. The almost mystic glow of the candles created an imaginary mist of light where everywhere else was dark.

A sudden flash of light to her right caught her attention and she whirled around to see one of the tallest candles spark one, two, three times and then, the fire was extinguished. There was no smoke. No nothing. She reached tentatively and took the candle in her own hands. It looked brand new. There were no traces of… anything in it. Feeling a little disappointed she moved the tip of the candle towards another that was already lit.

"You are wasting your time. That candle will never burn again," said a high-pitched voice from her left. She jumped in bewilderment.

Standing a few meters away was a small bald man dressed in monkish robes and carrying a wooden box in his right hand. His eyes shined with a glint of mirth.

"Go on, carry on, you'll never lit it again." He repeated. She returned her gaze to the candle in her hand and did as she was told. The tip of the candle touched the flames of the other candle but nothing happened. There were no traces of fire in the candle.

"Why?" she asked quietly.

"Because it has no purpose anymore." He replied curtly, taking the candle from her hand and placing it inside the box. She could see the box was full of candles just like the one she had held. "One candle can only burn when it has a purpose. Its fire transforms things around it. Change is necessary. The purpose of all candles is to mutate their environment." He explained, caressing his dwarf-like blond beard.

"I don't understand." she said earnestly.

"Of course you don't. How could you? You are a mere mortal." He replied, shrugging and walking off.

She hurried after him, "What are you?"

"Who." He corrected her, "Who am I" he raised an eyebrow in her direction. "My name is Morkeleb, the keeper of the candles of life" said he.

She decided to introduce herself at this point, "My name is K-"

"I already know who you are." He cut in furrowing his thick eyebrows. "You have given me enough trouble to last a lifetime!"

~*~*~ Jump in the time sequence ~*~*~

This was definitively it, thought Inuyasha in excitement. It had to be the most miraculous, the greatest, the most special and the most amazing moment of his life… he never knew it was possible to feel this way. He never thought he would be doing something like this so soon… let alone doing this with Kagome. He had died surely; there could be nothing more pleasurable than this… oh Kami… he thought.

"Do you like it?" she asked shyly. Was she ever so cute? He loved it! It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life…

"It's…" he gasped. Unable to find the words to describe what he felt.

He leaped forward, his hand reaching for the seductive even silky texture, caressing it.

"I thought you might like it," she admitted guiltily "but I never thought it could be so big! It has grown!" Kagome said surprised.

"What is this… how is it called?"

"Virgin?" she suggested.

"Gods! It's the biggest record store I've ever been to." He whispered aloud. His hands were still grasping the smooth CD case.

"Yes, it's an amazing place. The only problem is I never have enough money to buy the CDs I want." Kagome admitted, wrinkling her nose.

The two friends had entered the store and were now roaming through the contents. CDs, DVDs, music books, it was heaven to any music-addict. Kagome jumped from here to there as Inuyasha roamed through some specific merchandise, looking at his companion now and then.

He felt mesmerized by the way she smiled as she held a CD in her hand, putting it down with a sigh and then smiling at yet another case. He checked the prize of the 'Dream Theater' disc he held in his hand. He could afford this. Inuyasha looked back at Kagome and found he was not the only one staring at her. There was another man looking appreciatively at her. How dare he? Thought Inuyasha feeling a pang of jealousy spreading through his body.

* * *

"Higurashi!" said a familiar voice. Kagome looked up to see…

'Oh boy' she though, "Hi Houjo!" She said aloud.

"How are you?" Said the boy. "It's such a coincidence to find you here…" her classmate smiled sweetly. Kagome smiled back, but meaning it just partially. Sure, he was a sweet guy, but there was something about him she felt odd. Like there was something to him most people didn't see from his façade. Also, Kouga usually got jealous when Houjo was around, thus making her life very awkward. Not something she enjoyed. She subconsciously related the smiling guy to uncomfortable bickering with Kouga about the extensions of his duties as Kagome's boyfriend.

"Yes, it's quite… a coincidence," she answered brilliantly.

"Look, I'm going to go soon, would you like to come with me to a pub and have a drink?" he asked, his smile had not been altered.

"At 3.00 in the afternoon?" she replied.

"No, later in the night. Right now we can come to my apartment!" He explained triumphantly. Kagome sweat-dropped. "Oh, no, you would not be alone! Virginia is coming with us too! We'll meet her on our way!" he added. Still smiling.

Virginia was also a classmate, a Spanish classmate with a very strong accent. Such strong accent that made it very difficult to understand her. She was however, very friendly. There was no soul in college that didn't know her. Walking beside her was like walking side by side with a beauty queen on a festival. It was all smiles and 'hi' and 'how are you?' to every soul she met. No wonder she was a friend of Houjo too.

"Aheam," she heard a voice clearing his throat. "Is there anything wrong, Kagome?" Said Inuyasha, stepping in.

"No, nothing." She replied. "Houjo, this is Inuyasha, he's a friend of the family. Inuyasha, this is Houjo, a classmate," she made the introductions, "Look Houjo, I would love to go out, but I promised Inuyasha I would show him around the city, he's new here." She explained, happy, for once, to have an excuse to avoid the invitation.

That was before she realized Houjo was giving Inuyasha a look full of suspiciousness. She slapped herself mentally. Yup, she had done it this time. 'Open mouth. Insert foot.' Now everyone would think she was two-timing!

Of course she had planned introducing Inuyasha to everyone. After she told Kouga about her new friend, which would be after she stopped that fluttering feeling on the pit of her stomach every time he said her name. But this meeting, and the way Houjo was looking at them promised to become a wild rumor that could ruin her reputation. 'Someone please kill me.'

~*~*~ Jump in the time sequence ~*~*~

They were sitting in wooden chairs in front of a large wooden table. There were several candles, placed side by side in line over the table. She had now noticed they didn't burn in a normal pattern. Some burned faster than others. If it could be called 'burn' to what the candles did. A normal candle would burn from the top to their base. These candles burned from the base to the top.

First there would be a spark and they would light, like one of those tricky birthday candles in children's birthdays. The ones that light after you've blown them. Then they had reached the top height they would spark and die. Like they had never been lit, no traces of fire.

She had also learned that they all 'died' at a certain height. No candle would stop before or after reaching said height. Morkeleb had told her it was the healthy way. It was what they were supposed to accomplish.

Even now, he sat across from her. Studying her expression, like figuring what to do with her. She shook the thought from her head for a moment. Finding it easier to focus her thoughts on the candles.

"I don't understand." She said finally.

"What don't you understand?" he replied.

"The candles. I don't understand them. Why do they burn upwards? Why are some faster than others? Why do they all burn to the same height?"

"Which question do you want me to answer first?"

"The first… no, the second… wait… yes, the second." She said hesitantly. She bit her lower lip.

Morkeleb smirked at her confusion, "The purpose of the candles is different. The purpose is managed in different intervals of time. Thus the velocity difference."

"And the height?" she asked, unable to restrain herself. He would give her the answers anyway.

"You should know that one. It is an easy one." He said. His eyes shining with its characteristic mirth.

"Um… they all reach their purpose. They all fulfill their tasks." She guessed.

"Bravo!" Morkeleb clapped his hands mockingly.

"It is obvious this is some kind of illusion," she said mostly to herself. He decided to explain this next.

"Your simple mortal brain could not take the real form of this space, that is why it takes the most logic simile. The most clichéd simile, may I add, and tries to explain the input of information in a sensorial way."

The thought of all that was unnerving. "Why do they burn upwards?" she chose to ask.

"Because time does not go in the way you humans think. Not even demons have figured it out. You mortals conceive the most stupid concepts like 'tabula rasa' 'lineal time' and 'free will' when it is most illogical. Why, it is clear enough that if time was something that evolved from the past like 'past then future' then there would not be a clear purpose to upcoming candles! Imagine a world without a clear purpose! What a mess it would be! Future needs to exist first for there to be a purpose." He shook his head. "Time is not really linear. All things happen more or less at the same time, but the end has already been defined. It is too complicated to explain such a thing as that to mortals. There are terms you are not able to comprehend. What you do need to understand is that life goes 'future then past'. The purpose of all past things is to fulfill the future."

~*~*~ Jump in the time sequence ~*~*~

Inuyasha grabbed Kagome by the arm and felt her tense. Who was this hobo guy? She suddenly smelled like… like she was afraid. He released his grasp when he realized the small movement he had made to comfort her was in fact making her fears increase.

"Well, I was leaving anyway," said the boy. "Nice meeting you." He said to Inuyasha but it was quite clear that he didn't mean it. "See you Kagome!"

"Bye" she replied. Quietly. Very quietly. Inuyasha doubted the other guy had heard. They saw him leave the store. She whirled around. "We should leave too, you know? There's another place I would like to show you." She said with a half smile. It was a fake smile.

"Fine."

They walked towards the entrance of the store and then to the underground. He wanted to ask why was she scared. He wanted to ask her what had happened. Was that guy threatening her or something? A low growl escaped his throat. She eyed him suspiciously, but said nothing.

Inuyasha found himself thinking things that had not occurred to him before. This girl. This girl he felt so attracted to had a life here. She had friends… and maybe a boyfriend. He winced at the thought. It was impossible. She had free time enough to spend a whole afternoon with him, if she had a boyfriend, she would not have the time to do so… and besides her smell was her own. Of course, you could perceive the faint smell of her family on her but there was no other male. At least not that he perceived. He wanted to ask. He would ask. 'Do you have a boyfriend here?' that was what he would ask. "Wench, where the hell are you taking me?" were the words that left his mouth instead.

She looked at him sternly. "I am taking you to the British museum, and the name is Kagome, it's not that hard to remember, is it?"

~*~*~ Jump in the time sequence ~*~*~

"This is your candle," Said Morkeleb. She looked at the candle of her life. Something was odd about it. There was smoke coming out of the tip. It was too short, also.

"It is wrong." She stated.

"Indeed." He answered. Pause. "You were supposed to keep on living, you took your life too soon. The candle still has some life in it. It wishes to burn. It has not accomplished its purpose."

"Is that why I am the only soul here?" she asked and he nodded, "What will happen now?"

"Your life is too important. You will have to go back. Fulfill your purpose."

"No! I can't! I can't go back!" she cried, shaking her head furiously. Tears of desperation were forming at the edge of her eyes.

"You have to and you will. Look at me, child! There is no other way."

"I don't want to go back. It hurts too much. I am useless! I can't do anything right back there… I bring shame to my family. Please… there have to be another way!"

"You have been here for a week after your death. You have learned about the candles. You know about the purpose of life. All I can ask you is to tell me how to do this less painful. You need to fulfill your purpose." He said sternly.

"Can I fulfill it without encountering the people I know?"

"Alas! That is impossible, child. You know that purpose is to move those around you. There are no coincidences in life. I cannot do that."

"Let me stay here. I do not wish to go." She pleaded once more.

"Evil is stirring. You are a needed key to stop it."

"Then… I will go. But I will go just when I'm needed to be there. Just for what is necessary. I don't want to remain there more time than what I will."

"Very well then, that I can offer you."

"And I need to know what will my duty be. Why am I that needed back there… I thought no one would miss me…"

"I will tell you in a way your mortal brain can understand. There will be -or was, in the way you mortals measure time- a very powerful Miko called Midoriku. She will have a power to make great good. Her soul has to be very strong in order to do that. You are the bearer of that soul, at least partly. There is another… together, your souls will equal to that of Midoriku. In order to make your souls gain strength you will have to face a great evil and to conquer it all. It was designed to be so… but now… with your death you have altered everything! All the plans! Evil will still surface but there are things your death has changed and the candles have adjusted to your absence, but they will not be able to conquer without you. One single grain of rice can tip the scale. We no longer know what the outcome may be."

"What do you mean?" she said, moving her hand to her mouth and her eyes opening with realization.

"You have altered all our plans. We don't know how you managed to die but you should have not done so. We had a strict plan of what would happen… There have been changes we did not think there would be. We cannot mend them. We are sending you back, Kikyou, as our last hope that maybe it will restore the plans, but too much has the world mutated with your disappearance. The future, which was certain is fading, changing from our original plans and becoming uncertain. There should not be "free will" and yet you are here defying all our plans! Do you have any idea of what your death has done? Now not only do we have to construct past but future as well! The spirit world is been such a mess lately…"

"Can't you undo my death, then?"

"No."

"I will go."

~*~*~ Jump in the time sequence ~*~*~

They wandered through the corridors, looking at the objects. First, they had gone to the "Egypt" exhibition, and then gone to the Celtic one. Inuyasha had a fascination for swords and thus they spent most of their tour comparing different swords from different times and places.

They walked around chatting about random topics and looking at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking. They were happy then. They walked without really paying attention to anyone else. Without listening anything but the other's voice. Without feeling anything but completeness… and without noticing the undead girl that followed them. Watched them from afar. She gripped one of the walls at the entrance of the room. She clutched the wall so tight her knuckles were white. A tear made its way down her face.

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A/N: sort of a crappy chapter, I'm sorry for that! I felt like Matrix with all that "purpose" lol… anyways, review if you are so kind! Constructive criticism is highly appreciated. Death threats are tolerated and random comments are cherished! Thank you all for your patience!